Chapter 52

  Shards of the Sky

  The guidance that Sebastian gave to Rils brought her airship, the Fearless Voyage, into the heart of the Stardust Woods. South and east over the vast white leaf forest, the party drew ever nearer to their destination. The map that Sebastian memorized could not be removed from the Crystal Tower, so Sebastian had recreated a simplified version of his own.

  Sebastian studied the map with a critical gaze, "I don't understand where we are going."

  "The landing site is circled in red." Michael said. "That's where we are going."

  "Right, but where are these Shards of the Sky? In the caves of the mountain maybe?" Sebastian mused. The landing site was near the southern border of the woods, close to the Scorpio Mountains.

  "We'll see when we arrive." Michael said.

  "Yeah..." Sebastian frowned and leaned back. The model Sky Skiff dangling from his bag swung about.

  "How was flying that thing?" Michael asked.

  Sebastian arched an eyebrow, "You mean my Sky Skiff, the Horizon Seeker?" He asked, an aire of pride in his tone.

  "Ye."

  "It was fun. Rather simple enough, and quite fast." Sebastian said.

  "Cool." Michael said. Sebastian shook his head and put away the map.

  Wolf and Yan approached the table and sat down with trays of food. "Lunchtime." Wolf said. "Eat. Build your muscles."

  Michael and Sebastian took platters and dug in. The party sat on the deck of the airship, already several hours towards their goal. Sebastian arrived with the others only an hour after Michael had secured passage with Rils the day prior.

  "So, where did Mien go again?" Yan asked.

  "Back to Myrrh." Michael said.

  "Did he say why?" Yan asked.

  "Something about looking into stuff." Michael said.

  "Well that's helpful." Yan said, "Did Kris and Pierre go with?"

  "Yeah. They are Myrrh soldiers anyways right?" Michael said. "So I guess it makes sense." Yan nodded, and the four focused on finishing lunch.

  Hyato arrived after lunch had finished, "Get ready to disembark. We've arrived."

  "It's finally time." Michael said. "The Shards of the Sky."

  Sandy spires of tan stone stuck out of the land, connected by hundreds of layers of sedimentary deposits along steep narrow clifftop roads. The Scorpio Mountains were sheer and imposing, with southward leaning peaks that loomed like enormous barbed spines. The near side of the mountains appeared as a facade of pock marked walls woven together. Wherever the rain drained free was not along the side of the mountains.

  The Scorpio Mountains were the most vivid feature in sight as the party descended the landing ramp of the parked airship. The clearing was in the white washed Stardust Woods, so the party were once again surrounded in a forest of pale petals and colorless shrubs.

  Rils walked the party to the clearing they had landed in, then stopped. "My crew will wait for you lot here. When your business is concluded, return, and we'll take you where you need to go." The Captain explained.

  "Where will we go?" Yan asked. "We are putting an end to this here, right?"

  "We will probably return to the Crystal City to report back." Sebastian said.

  "Rils." Michael said. "Be careful. We don't want our enemies to spot you and attack while we are away."

  Captain Rils smirked. "Worry not. We shall stand ready. And hide the airship too, for good measure."

  "Good." Michael said. "We will be back soon."

  "Maybe not today though." Sebastian said. "Our enemy still needs to arrive for us to ambush them."

  Rils nodded, and the party turned to follow the map towards the entrance to the state secret they'd been granted authority to visit. Hyato glanced at his watch and straightened his posture.

  The paths of the forest were narrow animal paths, untouched by the passage of man. As the party pushed through the underbrush they spooked several animals. Small white foxes slipped off in one direction. A group of large furry rodents scattered as the party neared. Birds sang out a repetitive cry of alarm to alert the forest of the party nearing. Michael's Ring of Insight continued to feed him several more details.

  After ten minutes of trekking, the paths became easier to traverse. According to Sebastian, the entrance to the Shards of the Sky was nearing.

  Yan walked at the head of the party to keep watch. She took a step around a corner and paused, a sparkle of intrigue in her eyes. "What is it?" Michael asked, rounding the corner.

  Ahead of them stood an enormous crystal gate. Blue and teal crystal had been carved to have ramparts atop elaborate fortress walls. The gates themselves looked to be made of iron and reinforced with steel. Iron being fully immune to mana, it made sense to have it for a gate.

  Next to the gates stood two vigilant guards. The guards took defensive stances, brandishing spears in warning at the appearance of the party. "This area is restricted. State your business."

  "On behalf of King Mystia, we come bearing permission to enter." Sebastian said. "I have all the paperwork here."

  "You may approach." The guard said, still on edge. The other guard relaxed his stance. "The rest of you remain where you are."

  Sebastian walked ahead of the group and handed papers and a letter to the edgy guard. He checked, double checked, and triple checked them. Then he opened the sealed letter and read it.

  After five minutes of careful scrutiny the guard sighed and nodded. "Misters Michael, Sebastian, Hyato, and Wolf, as well as Miss Yan. You are all authorized to enter this restricted area." The edgy guard said, his stance relaxing.

  "Come on over guys." The easygoing guard said.

  Michael approached the guards with the rest of the party. "We have a task here, but there are also some dangerous people on their way here. We plan to ambush them, can you reinforce the gates?"

  "Don't underestimate these gates." The edgy guard said. "The iron doors are immune to magic, and the crystal walls contain enough stored energy to blow a hole in the mountain. No one is getting through without permission."

  "Also." The easygoing guard said. "You aren't allowed to take stuff out of here. There are too many crystals inside to let you take what you want, alright?"

  "There are Zori inside as well, so be careful and stick together." The edgy guard said, "The paperwork said you are here to visit the Wellspring, so get your task done and come back."

  "Okay." Michael said. "After we do what the King asked us to, we'll come back and set up an ambush here." The guards nodded.

  "Should some of us stay behind, just in case?" Yan asked.

  "Don't worry Miss." The easygoing guard said. "The two of us are enough to hold off an army. With this gate and our weapons, we are as strong as a fortress."

  "Stand back so we can open the gates." The edgy guard ordered. The party moved back and the guards turned to face the gates. They held their spears aloft in unison, and orbs socketed into the weapons began to glow. The walls of the fortification glowed in response, then heavy latches undid themselves. The twenty foot doors opened at a lethargic pace, revealing a tunnel that stretched forth several dozen yards. At the end, natural light shone.

  "Go forth and accomplish your quest." The easygoing guard said. "We shall remain here to guard the way."

  "How do we let you know when we are back?" Wolf asked.

  "When you return to the tunnel, we will be alerted." The edgy guard explained. "Now hurry up. I don't like keeping these gates open."

  The party collected themselves and strode through the gates. The doors swung closed behind them, sealing with an audible thunk.

  Stretching out ahead of the party was the tunnel leading to the goal, at long last they would arrive.

  Footstep noise was joined by the tinkle of tiny crystals underfoot. Yan giggled and did a hop, then kicked around some small crystal pebbles to listen to the scattering sounds. The party crossed through the tunnels. When they reached the other end the five of them stepped into the light, and stopped in their tracks.

  Light filtered through a towering violet crystal before them, casting a rainbow of colors down onto the party. The crystal spire was at least as tall as King Mystia's Crystal Tower, though this giant prism jutted out from the ground at a natural angle.

  Beyond this spire there were more, dozens more spires of similar and greater size. Gigantic crystals of all colors spread out in an unorganized array over a massive area. The giant shards grew growths of other crystals from their faceted surfaces, giving a few the appearance of trees or coral.

  The variety of angles at which the shafts of crystal grew gave another impression. It was as if a planet of crystal were shattered far above and dropped into the world like a rain of spears. The party stood in awe before a landscape the likes of which they had never envisioned, the Shards of the Sky.

  It took a few minutes of silent appraisal of the marvelous landscape for the party to snap out of their collective trance. "This place is..." Hyato began.

  "Beyond description." Yan said.

  "Transcendent." Hyato said. "Thank Feros I got to see this."

  "So, this is the Shards of the Sky." Michael said. "It's worth the effort to see this."

  "Where even are we?" Wolf said, stepping forth and picking up a stone. "This doesn't look like the Scorpio Mountains." The stone he held was grey, and the rest of the landscape that was not covered in chunks of crystal was also grey stone with patches of blue moss.

  "You're right." Sebastian said, "which means this place is not in the Scorpio Mountains. After all, how could we have missed this from an airship?"

  "Oh yeah." Michael looked up and around. The sky above was clear in all directions. There were no signs of the white trees of the Stardust Woods, nor the tan spines of the Scorpio Mountains. "Where are we? I didn't feel like we teleported."

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  "I believe we are in a Hidden Kingdom." Sebastian said. "Which means that gate is the only way in or out."

  "What's that?" Wolf asked, "What is a Hidden Kingdom?"

  Michael felt his Ring glow and checked it. "Hidden Kingdom is just another word for a sub plane," Michael explained. "We are still on Iagorothi, but also here in this plane."

  Wolf, Sebastian, and Yan all looked at Michael in utter amazement. "How do you know something better than Sebastian?" Yan asked.

  "The gift that Mystia gave me." Michael said, rubbing the ring a little, "It keeps feeding me information about the things around me."

  "That's awesome." Yan said. "And here all I got were socks." She smirked. Michael chuckled.

  Sebastian clapped his hands and gathered attention, "Alright. Let's go find this ruin and the Wellspring of Purity. We won't accomplish anything by standing around."

  Without further ado, the party picked a route between towers of crystal and moved forth. The towering shards of crystal were not the only major feature in the area. Boulders of fallen chunks of crystal had fallen about the place and begun to grow, creating a natural maze with near endless paths to pick from. There was little in the way of stone to walk on, most of the terrain was crystallized to some degree.

  Amongst the twisting paths of the Hidden Kingdom there were many differing types of crystals about the place. Michael’s ring continued to feed him information as they passed by. Color Crystals were most prevalent, cropping up in small clusters growing on every kind of surface around. Water sprang forth from a Hydro Crystal that was embedded in the stone, forming a small creek the party had to hop over to proceed.

  Terra Crystals had gathered up stone around them to make mossy hillocks about the place. Near the base of every Shard, several Aero Crystals were floating about just a few feet off the ground. Michael even spotted a single Pyro Crystal, which had burned an area to glass. There were also several other kinds of crystals with dormant effects, such as spiky clusters of Combat Crystals in a myriad of colors. The different crystals the party passed as they traversed came in many sizes, some small enough to grasp, others larger than a Sky Skiff.

  Sebastian walked at the center of the party, his head down as he sketched on a pad of paper. Yan tried to help him along at first, but he maneuvered around the obstacles without any trouble. After a half hour of walking, Yan’s patience wore out. “What are you doing, Sebastian?”

  “Huh?” Sebastian looked up. The party had all stopped to look at him. “Oh, this?” He held up his sketch. It was a series of jagged shapes surrounding a meandering dotted line. “I’m making a map, to keep track of our progress.”

  “You haven’t looked up once since we started.” Yan said.

  “That’s right, because I don’t need to. Look.” Sebastian pointed upwards. Suspended about twenty feet above him was a small ball of fire, colored the pale blue of Sebastian’s magical effects.

  “You have a pet fireball?” Wolf asked. “That’s strange.”

  “Oh, it's that thing Mien gave you, right?” Yan asked. Sebastian nodded.

  “The elemental power of perceiving through an element, Elesense. I am using Fire, Earth, and Wind right now to keep track of the area around us.” Sebastian said. “So as long as we don’t go too fast we won't get lost.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Michael said.

  “I’ll keep watch for Zori then!” Yan said, creating an Energy double. She took position at the front and back of the party. With their new strategy in full effect, and explained to everyone, the group proceeded to look for the hidden ruin.

  The farther they traveled, the more complex the Shards of the Sky became. The Shards themselves became widespread as they explored away from the central gate, and the party realized that they could have gone in any direction from the entrance of the Hidden Kingdom. As they passed twenty Shards in a single direction, they started to encounter chasms. The massive splits in the earth were too wide for any but Michael and Yan to cross, and so deep there was no light in their depths.

  While Sebastian kept mapping, they moved along the first chasm that barred their path until a crystal bridge could be seen. “We can cross up ahead.” Yan said.

  “What if the ruin is back the way we came?” Wolf asked, “Isn’t this a waste of time?”

  “It could also be just ahead, you know.” Hyato said.

  “Shouldn’t you already know?” Wolf asked.

  Hyato shook his head, “I have no memory of this place.”

  “Look, we’ll cross that bridge and map the area beyond it.” Michael said. “If the ruin isn’t there when we get to the edge of the area, we will backtrack and keep exploring until we find it.”

  “There’s an edge?” Yan asked.

  “Well, no place can last forever,” Michael said, “Besides, Hidden Kingdoms are Sub-Planes. There is an edge.”

  “We keep going until we reach the planar boundary.” Sebastian said. “And then-”

  “Zori!” Yan shouted, slipping into a combat stance. Wolf and Michael drew their swords, while Sebastian put his map away and cast defensive wards. Hyato kept his weapon sheathed, ready to draw.

  The enemy approached from the chasm, climbing along it's walls. The Zori that approached had long spiked limbs made of hardened crystal, and lithe agile bodies. Their crystal claws struck into the stone deep enough for them to climb up, and as they neared they threw themselves into jumping strikes at the party!

  Yan, Hyato, and Michael all dodged the initial assault. Wolf blocked the one that attacked him, knocking it away with his twin swords. Sebastian was not targeted, so let out a spell to strike the enemy. The blast of magic dispersed on striking, to no effect. “Curses.” Sebastian said.

  Yan moved like an arrow in the wind, slamming into the side of one of the Zori leapers. She knocked the enemy off balance and struck with her knives, only for her attack to bounce off. She recovered and unleashed an attack with Wind Fist. That too, failed to pierce the thick mineral hide of the enemy.

  Hyato drew his sword in a snapping motion, aiming to sunder his target. The attack struck, but only knocked the enemy back a few steps. A second stroke unleashed a Surge, but the enemy was unharmed, or at least seemed to be. The swordsman frowned and focused on defense.

  Next up was Wolf, who skipped his weaker attacks to unleash fire and lightning on his enemy. A tunneling fury of amber energy crashed into his foe, but the Zori moved through it without a care. Wolf grunted and unleashed more, channeling the force of his Phanokai heritage as well, Dragon Energy. The Zori was unharmed. “How do we do this?” Wolf complained.

  Michael struck his enemy, cutting it in half and reducing it to naught. As the Zori was dusted he launched a Vibe at another. The magical attack had no effect, save for drawing attention. The Leaper launched itself at Michael for a stabbing strike. Michael blocked with his sword at the last moment.

  The Oronbyr blocked the attack, and the Zori’s spiked limbs cracked on impact. It fell to the ground, flailing and angry. Michael stabbed the Zori, and it died. “Hmm.” He looked at the others, who were focused on blocking and parrying the attackers, but unable to damage them. Wolf seemed the most frustrated. “Wolf, throw it over here!” Michael called, moving behind a spiky cluster of blue crystals. Wolf complied, slamming into his Zori opponent strong enough to launch the foe.

  The Zori Leaper hit the cluster of crystals, impaled itself, and died. Michael grinned, and slashed the blue combat crystal with his sword. “They are weak to crystals! Everyone, catch!” Michael tossed four chunks of crystal that had the vague shape of swords towards the party, one to each of them. Yan and Hyato caught theirs and brought them down on the enemy, killing them in a single blow. Wolf fumbled with his, before managing to catch and use it. Sebastian sidestepped the one Michael threw him, then picked it up off the ground.

  New weaponry in hand, the party made quick work of the offending Zori. Michael attempted to use one of the blue combat crystals as a second weapon, imitating Wolf’s dual wielding, but the weapon snapped in half on his fifth swing. When the battle was over the party grouped up again, and Wolf had broken his weapon as well.

  “Good work.” Hyato said, “How’d you figure it out?”

  “This.” Michael held up the Oronbyr, causing its faceted surface to reflect the light. The crystal weapon looked like a perfect sword shape, but was still a black crystal. Of course, it was said to be shaped by a God. “No one else was making any headway, but I killed my first foe.”

  “Thinking fast might have saved our lives.” Sebastian said, “Now we just have to deal with the after effects. Everyone, show me your hands.” He held out his hands, where multiple small cuts were already bleeding. The others all put their hands in to show the same problem, though Wolf’s hands were on fire due to his Phanokai blood. Michael showed his right hand, which also had tiny cuts from wielding the crystal weapon.

  “I can lead us in a meditation to close the wounds.” Michael said, sheathing his sword and taking a focused stance.

  “In a minute.” Sebastian advised, pulling out a small can and popping a lid off. Inside was a pink paste of salve. “Everyone, take a glob and spread it over the cuts. Infection would be the death of us.” He demonstrated by spreading the salve on his hands, flinching a little.

  The party all used the salve. A second of stinging pain, followed by a dampened feeling of relief spread across their hands. Once the salve was stored away Michael led everyone in a healing meditation, channeling energy throughout the party. What hadn’t been closed by salve was treated by the medical arts of the Sera continent.

  Yan pulled some leather straps out of her pack a few minutes after treatment was done. She handed one to Hyato and another to Sebastian, “What’s this for?” Hyato asked.

  “I’ll show you.” Yan said, wrapping a strap around the end of her combat crystal weapon. The Crystal was sort of shaped like a sword, but had rough natural edges and odd facets, making it have an awful balance. Compared to the Oronbyr, it was a stick picked up off the ground pretending to be a sword. Sebastian and Hyato followed suit, making leather strap handles for their weapons.

  “It’s a bit bulky.” Sebastian said, “But it will do. Thanks.”

  “Never used a crystal sword before.” Hyato said, “It feels weird.”

  “You get used to it.” Michael said, smirking.

  Hyato chuckled, “Have you ever used a normal sword?” He asked Michael. “One that didn’t break when you swung it?”

  “I could try using yours.” Michael offered. “To see what it's like.”

  “No....” Hyato said, turning aside to hide his sheathed weapon, “That’s not happening.” Michael laughed.

  “Alright everyone.” Sebastian said, “Have a snack, let’s keep going.” He passed out ration bars and water, and the party continued.

  The first chasm they crossed was the smallest. The further from the center they moved, the wider gaps they found. Sebastian continued to map the way using the power of magical elements to see, keeping the party from checking the same place more than once. As everyone moved forth they kept a close eye out for signs of construction, the ruins, but had no luck so far. They were starting to worry they would not find it in one go, but Yan pointed out that is why they had weeks of food in their packs.

  More Zori attacked as they ventured deeper into the mystical land. The enemy were relentless in their assault, but having had their weakness revealed the Zori were no match for the party. The blue combat crystal weapons broke one by one in fights. Hyato’s crystal sword broke first, then Yan, and Sebastian followed. They replenished their weapons with other crystals as needed, but Michael’s Oronbyr seemed to show no signs of ever wearing out.

  After two hours of careful combing, the party reached the edge of the Shards of the Sky. “There’s no way it continues... right?” Michael said, looking outwards.

  They arrived at the top of a cliff overlooking a vast endless sea of clouds. The clouds appeared to stretch out for miles to reach the horizon, with nary a feature in sight. “This place, is it really like this?” Yan asked. “Nothing out there?”

  “The Shards of the Sky.” Hyato said. “A massive cluster of crystals atop a plateau in an endless cloudy void.”

  “It very well could be.” Sebastian said. “And if that’s the case, then I think I have a new plan.” The Evari tactician stood rubbing his chin as he gazed out over the sea of clouds.

  The Phanokai Champion grunted, “Let’s hear it.” Wolf said, arms akimbo.

  “Indeed.” Sebastian said. “I say, we return to the central entrance of the Shards. If there is a ruin, it is more likely to be near the more stable center, rather than out by these cracked chasms. We return to the heart of this place and begin searching in a spiraling motion outwards.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Michael said, “Let’s head back.”

  “Uuuuuugh.” Wolf complained, “It took us hours to get here.”

  “Hours of careful mapping.” Yan said, “Returning won't take long, right?”

  “Half an hour.” Sebastian said, “If we follow the bridges we already mapped.”

  Hyato patted Wolf on the shoulder, “And we can eat when we get back, before we start the search.”

  “Good.” Wolf said. “Trail rations suck.”

  The party returned back towards the start. The bridges they had found and crossed were still there, massive crystals not being the most ideal roadways, and they crossed without harassment. At some point they realized that Zori were not ambushing them anymore. Michael had lost count of how many they had already killed. Either they had wiped out the ones already present, or the Zori in this area had learned to fear them. Whatever the truth was, they made their way back without issue.

  “There are so many crystals.” Yan said, “So many kinds.”

  “That’s true.” Sebastian said. “I’ve never heard of a crystal quarry with so much variety. And these elemental crystals are quite rare.” The party crossed another of many creeks formed by a random Hydro Crystal.

  “I guess that’s why the guards said we can’t take anything.” Michael said.

  “Exactly right.” Sebastian said. “Cryston already has an abundance of powerful crystal deposits, but this many would disrupt the economy for sure.”

  “And would cause too many people to grow too strong.” Hyato said.

  “That... is probably the main reason.” Sebastian agreed. “If elemental crystals became cheap, then new weapons that could disrupt nations would become cheap as well.”

  “Oh... wow.” Yan said, dropping a small Aero Crystal from her pocket. “So, we’d better not take anything.”

  “That is the rule.” Hyato agreed.

  Michael chuckled. "Maybe we can get permission from the guards. They must have a way to contact the Cryston military and get word back, right?"

  "I'm not so sure." Sebastian said. "They might be a state secret entirely. We needed to bring a letter, afterall."

  "Why wouldn't they have a way to contact others?" Yan asked. "That would be a huge weakness."

  "Because." Wolf said. "If a corrupt officer learned of this place they could try to become a warlord."

  "Possibly." Sebastian agreed. "Either way..." Sebastian trailed off and stopped. "Everyone stop."

  The party came to a stop while Sebastian turned his head. He held up his finger for silence, and everyone went still.

  Michael and Yan strained their ears. There was a distant sound, something ahead. An echo, faint at first, growing more intense. What was that?

  Booming through the area came a shockwave of noise. An explosion and the twisting scream of wrenching metal reverberated across the zone. The echo of horrible noise bounced from crystal to crystal, amplifying the sound to travel much farther than it should. Michael and Yan collapsed, clutching their wolven ears in pain as the wave hit!